New York, September 17, 2011--Authorities in the republic of
Somaliland are obstructing independent journalists from covering
government politics, the Committee to Protect Journalists said last
week. Four reporters have been harassed and arrested while on assignment
since early September.

"Somaliland authorities must end this crackdown on
independent reporting," said CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes. "The
government must stop harassing journalists and uphold its campaign
pledge made last year to support press freedom."

On Saturday, officers of Somaliland police Special Protection
Unit in the capital, Hargeysa, prevented journalists with the private
press from covering the swearing-in ceremony of the new interior
minister, Mohamed Nur, local
reports said. When reporter Saleban Abdi Ali of the independent
weekly Waheen began
to protest, officers beat him with the butt of their guns and detained
him at the Hargeysa Central Police Station for roughly four hours, local
journalists said. Ali sustained light injuries.

On September 5, in Burao, Somaliland's second largest city,
police arrested Waheen
reporter Ahmed Muse and detained him for a week without charge, local
journalists said. Muse's colleagues said he was arrested because of a
story he wrote on a purported dispute between Yasin Mohamed, the
Toghdeer region governor, and regional officials in the sports ministry.
Police also questioned reporter Mahad Abdillahi on September 5 over a
similar report published in Ogaal, a Hargeysa-based weekly, according to
local reports. Authorities released Muse on bail from Burao prison on
Sunday. Abdillahi was released after several hours.

Also on September 5, police detained Waheen reporter Ali
Ismail in Borama town, northern Somaliland, for several hours and
released him without charge, local journalists said. Ismail had
attempted to investigate reports of the local government physically
removing the office doors of businesses who failed pay taxes.

Waheen has been targeted by the government before. In
January, Somaliland authorities
sentenced Waheen editor Mohamud Abdi Jama without bail for
defamation and "spreading false news" in a 2010 story alleging public
corruption. Jama was granted a presidential pardon the following month.
Local journalists told CPJ they suspected the arrest was an attempt to
intimidate the newspaper.